Card-index



Witnesses.

S. ANTHONY.

CARD INDEX.

APPLICATION FILED on. 22. 1913. RENEWED lUNE15| m1.

1,327,936, Patented Jan. 13, 1920.

' Staniey Anthony, I ,Zg QC byMMdW W x/044A AttY s:

U ED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

STANLEY ANTHONY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ACME CARD SYSTEMCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

CARD-INDEX.-

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan. 1920.

Application filed October 22, 1913, Serial No. 796,724. Renewed June 15,1917. Seria1 No. 175,043.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STANLEY ANTHONY, a citizen of the United States, andresiding at Boston,-co unty of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Card-Indexes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is aspecification, like characters on' the drawing representing like parts.4

This invention relates to. card indexes of that type which include aframe or holder having opposed guides and a plurality of cards,-interchangeably supported in said guides to have an overlapping relationrelative to each other, said cards being pivotally sustained so that byswinging upwardly the cards above any desired -card, the subject matteron said card will'be exposed to view. The objects of my invention are toprovide a novel card index of this type in which the supporting meansfor the individual cards is practically, indestructible and will not,

therefore, be injllred by removing of the cards in the holder andreplacing them thereln, and to provide a card index in lwhich 'the cardsthemselves are so constructed thatthey can be typewritten upon and thetypewritten matter. can be placed upon any desired portion of-the card,and

further to improve card indexes of this type, all as will be more fullyhereinafter described and then pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated a selectedembodiment of my invention from which the principle thereof will bereadily ascertained, .Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of acard index embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line :L'a2 Fig. 1; .Fig. 3. is a perspectiveview of a card showing the manner ,of removing it from itscarrierfor'placing it thereon;

Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary perspective views of cards embodying myinvention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a card carrier;

tFig. 7 is a perspective view of an index Fig. 8 is a perspective viewof an adjustable supporting member for holding the cards in properposition in this holder.

The individual cards in my invention are supported in a holder 1 whichmay be made of any suit-able material and which is provided with theopposed guides 2 in which card carriers 3 are removably and preferablyslidably mounted. This backing 1 may be conveniently made of sheet metaland the guides" 2 can be made byfolding over the edges of the sheetmetal backing to present the lips 4. The cards 5 are sustained upon thecard carriers 3 above referred to, and I will preferably employ aconstruction which will admit of each card being removed from its.carrier. illustrated embodiment of my invention these carriers eachcomprise a piece of resilient wire, the ends of which are received inthe guides 2 and are confined under the lips 4 1 Each carrier hasassociated there with means for spacing it from an adjacent carrier andin the preferred embodiment of my invention I secure this end by bendingeach end of the carrier to form a head 6, said heads operating toproperly ,space the carriers and thereby to properly space the cards 5,as will be presently dethen withdrawing the other end from the,

other guide as will be obvious.

The-cards 5 may be made of paper of an be easily introduced into andwritten on by a typewriter. "As stated above each-card is preferablyremovably sustained on its carrier and while this may be accomplished Inthe desired thickness and grade and will pre J erably be of such acharacter that they can.

in various ways, I have herein shown each card as folded over at itsupper end as at 8, and as provided with a plurality of apertures 9 thefold through which the wire carrier extends alternately in oppositedirec-' tions. The apertures 9 are preferably of a.

size to permit the heads V6 to be passed therethrough and in placing acard upon its wire carrier, the head at one end of the card carrier isintroduced through the end hole 9 as shown in full lines, Fig. 3,a'ndjthe wire is then pushed longitudinally until the head comesopposite the next hole 9 when the wire is turned about its axis tobringthe head into the .position as shown in dotted lines Fig. 3,the'reby permitting the head to.

be inserted through said second hole, and.

then the aboveoperations' are repeated until the wireis completelyinserted through all the apertures 9.

that means for detach-ably engaging the car rier, z. 6., the folded andapertured end oh the card, is. formed integral with the body of thecardon which 'the data is written or printed. This, of course, adds'to theecononly of construction. When the wire carrler is in place it appearsalternately on the exterior and interiorof the card as seen in Fig. 1. va I Afterthe card is thus placed on it's car-* rier, one end of thecarrier is inserted into one of the uides2 and then the carrier can bebent su eiently 'to permit the other head to be inserted into the otherguide. 'When the carrier isreleased the resilience of the overportionmay, however, be equalin ex-' My improved cards wire will causeit to assume the position seen in Fig. 1. These carriers are eachindependently, removable from the holder and the position of each cardcan be shifted in the holder by simply"v removing its" carrier therefromand then making a proper place for it between any two cards by shiftingthe carriers thereof'lo'ngitudinally and then reinserting the saidcarrier intothe space thus made. a q g p My invention is of such anaturethat each card may be provided with a pluralitycf pages, for instance ifthe "folded overpor tion of any card is merely in the-form of a tab 10,as shown in .Fig. 4, then the'card will present two facesonly. 'Thisfolded that each card can-be readily separated from j its carrierand-when the card is thus s'epa rated it may be introduced into thetype-.

vVIltBT'ZtIld written on therein in] the same 1 From the foregoing, it.will be seen that the cards are so formed are of such a nature way as anordinary piece of After the typewritten matter has been placed on thecard then the latter may again be replacedon its carrier and insertedinto the index.

When the cards are arran edin the holder they overlap each other y aspace determined by the size of the spacing means which intheillustrated. embodiment of my invention are the heads 6.. The exposedportion of each card at its lower edge will preferably have thereon thename of the person to whom it refers or the title of the subject mattercontained on the card.

The reading. matter on any card is accessible by simply turning up thecards above it andthis operation of swinging up the cards does not wearpr'afi'ectthe connection v of the card with its carrier for the cardsmerely swing and hinge about the wire car-' rier.

' This construction obviates the necessity of securing the card to itscarrier by 'a paper v torn-after comparatively short time. In overlappincards, are placed'on the bottom edge thereof card indexes of this na-'ture the identifying names for the different ,or cloth hinge which isvery apt to become where they are'exposed. 1 Itisj-often difiicult totypewrite on the extreme bottom edge of a sheet and in order to providea card on typewritten on the ,bottom edgeI propose to make eachcardoriginally with an extension 20 capable of being detached. froni the.1-0 0 card. This end can besecured by providing the card with theextension and preferably perforating the card along the line 21.

By having the card with the extension-20 it is possible to insert thecard. into the type-' writer and to have the card securely. and

- properlyh'eld in the-typewriter while said card is being typewrittenupon' immediately carrier and inserted into the holder 1, this above theline 21 and thenlafte'r the card is removed and before it"is applied toits extension20 can be detached thus producing the card .with thetypewritten identifying data .on the card onits extreme lower edge.

, I'have also shown -herein fan'ji'ndex tab which can be adjustablyapplied tothe holder 1 and by which the different divisions of mattercontained on the cards in the holder can be s e arated. For instance,these 7 index tabs may ear the letters of the alphabet thus indicatingthe lines'of separation between-the As Bs? and-.0 fete, 0 theindexcards. These index tabs are shown generally at 22 andthey areremovably and adjustably secured to the holder 1 sothat they can be;placed in any desired position thereon." Each index tab 'is. shown,asiforlhed from a piece of metal fbent back on itselfshown at 23,"thetwo sides 24:

95 which the identifying names-can be freadily thereof being slightlyseparated at their outer ends to provide clamping jaws 25 that areadapted to adjustably and frictionally One of- 5 the sldes 24 has'itsedges bent at 26 to form engage the edge of the holder 1.

holding lips adapted to receive a slip 27 of paper bearing the indexnumber or letter.

The number of cards which are to be used in different card indexes varygreatly, one

card index pertaining to matter where a comparatively few cards arenecessary and another, card index pertaln ng to matter where a largenumber of cards are necessary.

In practice it is proposed that the backing or holders 1 shall be madein unit lengths and it will frequently occur that when a card index isfirst started. the number of cards which are necessary will beinsufficient to fill the holder 1 but on the other hand it 30 isnecessary to have a sufliciently large' holder to accommodate the cardswhich will be necessary as the card index grows.

When the cards are insufficient in number to fill the card index it isdesirable-that they should be so placed in the holder 1 to be mostconvenient for. the user whether this be on the top or at the centralportion of the holder.

In order to enable the cards to be placed in any desirable position inthe holder and held therein when the cards are insuflicient in number tofill the holder I propose to use a card-supporting member which isadjustably held at any desired position in the holder and on which thecards may rest. This card supporting member is shown at 29 andit hasfingers $0 at its ends which are adapted to engage under. the lips 4.These fingers are normally bent forwardly 40 somewhat as shown in Fig. 8so that when the supporting member is inserted into position theresiliency of: the fingers will produce sufficient 'friction'between thesupporting member and the back of the holder 1 to hold the supportingmember in its adjusted position with the weight of the cards thereon. Bymeans of this construction it is pos-. sible to place the supportingmember in any desired position in the holder'and thus have the cardsheld at the desired point.

While I have illustrated herein a preferred embodiment of my invention Ido not' rier -by bending the central' portion of the carrier away frointhe holder, and a card sustained by each carrier and the carriers beingprovided with means for holding them spaced a substantial'distance apartfor exposing a material space at the bottom of each underlying'card forthe purpose of exposing identifying matter. 2. In a card index, thecombination with a holder having opposed guides, of a plu- Q. 7 ralityof card carriers extending from one guide to the other and slidablymounted therein, each carrier being formed of a length of resilient wireand a card detach-' ably sustained oneach carrier, each carrier beingprovided with means for holding it- 8 6 spaced from an adjacent carrierwhereby the lower edge of each card projects below the card above. I '3.In a card index, the combination with a holder having opposed guides, ofa plurality '85 of card carriers extending from oneguide to the otherand slidably mounted therein, each I carrier being formed of a length ofresilient H wire and a card removably hinged to each carrier, eachcarrier being provided with 90.'

means for holding it spaced from an adja-' v cent carrier whereby thelower edge of each card projects below the card above. 4. In a cardindex, the combination with a holder having opposed guides, a pluralityof I card carriers extending from one guide to the other and slidablelongitudinally thereof, each carrier formed of a length of resilientwire having at each end thereof a head-by whi'ch the carriers are spacedfrom eachoth'er to causethe exposure of a substantial 1 marginal portionof the underlying cards and a card detachably sustained by e'ach.car-.

rier.

5. In a card index, the combination with a holder having opposed guides,a plurality of: card carriers extending from one guide'to the other andslidable longitudinally there-- of, each carrier formed of a length ofresilient wire having ateach end thereof a head bywhich the carriers arespaced from each other and a card detacha-bly sustained by each carrier,each card having apertures through which its carrier is'threaded'whereby each card is hinged to its carrier and can, 115 a be swungupwardly thereabout.

6; In a card index, the combination with aholder having opposed guides,ofa plurality of card carriers extending from one guide to. the otherand removably mounted therein, each carrier being formed of a length ofresilient wire and provided 'with' means for spacing it from theadjacentfcarrler and a.

card sustained on each carrier. 7. A card for. a-card index comprising-acard carrier anda' card member removably sustained thereby, said cardmembenhaving at its lower-edge a detachable extension, said I extensionproviding means whereby the card can be securely held in atypewriter-fin posi- Q tion to have'matter typewritten on the lower edgeof the car body immediately above the extension, said extensionbeing-adapted to be detached when the cardis put to use.

8, In anv index, the combination with aholder having opposed guides,of'a plurality i0 1 of, a card sustained oneach card carrier in v aplane substantially parallel to thatof the of card carriers extendingfrom one guide to the other and slidable longitudmally. thereholder, andan index ta-b adjustably'earried by one'of the guides:

9.,In an index, the combination with'a holder having opposed guides, ofa plurality of information-bearing members adjustably mounted insaidguides, and an index tab :for said members adjustablycarried by one ofthe guides and provided wlth clamp ng jaws to embrace said "guide andcontainmg ,gu ides, said members being adjustable longilips tohold anindex strip. a

I 10. In an index, the combination with a holder having two fixedguides, of independently-removable information-bearing members providedwith means to engage said tudinally of the guides and removabletherefrom, and a supporting member also engagingboth of said guides andadjustably and frictionally sustained thereby and adapted v .toadjustably support the information-bearing members in desired position.

11. In a card index, the combination with a holder havingfopposed'guides, of a plurality of card carriers having their'ends received insaid guides, cards sustained by L adjustably sustained by said 7 adaptedto support the card carrler above it andto hold. said card .carrier inadjustedsaid card carriers, and a supporting member a position;

- 1 3 13. In a card system, a sheet, and a sup' portftherefor'to.whichthe sheet is hinged, com nsm a bar of; 1fesil ient metal having aI comprising a barof resilient metallraving its ends bent to formspacers. I

12, In a card system,,a sheet, and a su a i port therefor to which thesheet is detac ably hinged, comprising a pair of spacers at.

- the lateral edges of the sheet.

spacer at .eachend.

s. 141111 a card system, 'asheet, and asup port therefor to whichthesheet is hinged,

15. In a card dexsystem and con ibiand a sheet associated witheaclicarrier havmg slots "f-for receiving meahamaybe' inserted; s

. In a card system, a sheetlprovided which said sheet is ides and the].carrier and through which -thesame, with the spacing I 1,e27,9ea

with a air of horizontally extending slots near its upper edge, and asupporting bar on hinged, inserted through said, slots.

17. The combination with aframe adapted v to removably receive aplurality of overlapping cards, said frame having spaced flanges, of aholder formed of resilient material whereby its ends may be sprung undersaid flanges, and a card havin a flexible hinge portion through whichsaid holder is insertible. 18. Thecom'bination with a frame adaptedtoremovably receive a plurality of overlapping cards, said framehaving'spaeed grooved portions, of a holder formed of resilient-materialwhereby its-endsmay be sprung into said grooved portions and a cardhaving a flexible hinge portion through which said holder is insertible,said holders being of greater width than the'card and having return bent'end portions forming a relatively wide bearing surface which when' '1inserted in the grooved portions of the frame will hold the position.

19. In acard cards in proper overlapping a 7 index, the combination witha holder having opposed guides," of a plu-- rality of card carriersextending from one guide to the other'and slidably mounted thereon, eachcarrier being formed of. resilient material and a card detachablysustained by each carrier, each carrier having cent carrier whereby thelower edge of each card projects below the card above.

20. The combination with a frame and a plurality of card memberssupported thereby, each card member having at one edge a detachableextension, said; extension providing means whereby the card may be heldsecurely in a typewriter in position to have matter typewritten on theedge of the card adjacentjthe extension, said extension being adapted tobe detached when in use. a

21. In an index, the combination with a; holder having opposed guides,of a plurality of card bearing members adjustably mountedin the guides,an index tab for said members adjustably carried by one'of the guidesand provided with means for engaging the guide and means for removablyholdlng an index stripa i 22. In a card-index, the combination with aholder having opposed guides, of a plu-, rality of cardcarriersextending from one guide to the other ,andremovably mounted means forholding it spaced from an adja- I therein,feach carrier being formed ofa length of resilient material and pi'ovided with means for spacing itfrom the adjacent carrier and a card sustained on each carrier. .1,: 23. In a card index and in combination a frame; a series of supportingmembers held 'therein,='each' having a card-engaging and supporting partand a spacing part for spacing the supporting parts of the members adistance from the corresponding parts of the adjacent members. saidmembers being individualb removable from the frame without substantialmovement lengthwise of the frame, and a card removably sustained by eachsupporting part, said cards being of substantially uniform width in adirection transverse of the supporting part, whereby when all of thecards are in place marginal edges substantially uniform in width of allof the cards back of the uppermost card will be exposed, and when anintermediate card is missing from its supporting member occupying itsplace in the frame the absence of said card will be visually indicatedby the exposure -of an additional portion of the marginal edge of thenext lower card.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of

